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INSTALATION AVAILABLE Mercia 14 x 10ft Pent Style Timber Playhouse with Tower & Activity Set
First Added - February 27 2022
Last Updated - August 4 2022 - 10 Data Points Updated - 3 Data Points Added
Reviewed & curated by a panel of garden building experts. Using methodology 1.1
Product ID: SKU: 263307
Size: 14' x 10'
Merchants Checked: 12
Available From: 1
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Our verdict on the Mercia 14 x 10ft Pent Style Timber Playhouse with Tower & Activity Set
The Mercia 14 x 10ft Pent Style Timber Playhouse with Tower & Activity Set comes with a pent style roof, holds a 10 Years guarantee, is treated using a dip treated process [1], and makes use of pefc materials. The 2 windows used on this particular 14′ x 10′ use a styrene [2] glazing material (Thickness was not specified).
Base material: wood
Certifications this product meets:
PEFC certified timber[3]
Our experts say this has 4 stand out features. A stand out feature is something found on over 70% of the top 10% of products in a particular category or is an exceptionally good feature as rated by our panel of experts.
1. The choice of roof covering (mineral felt), is also what we find that 88% of the top 10% of playhouses use.
2. The styrene window installation is known to be a great choice, and our data shows us that 94% of the top 10% of playhouses make use of this kind of glazing.
3. A dip treated treatment process lets us know that this playhouse should be expected to last for a good few years, and is used on 82% of the top 10% of playhouses.
4. The shiplap tongue & groove cladding used on this playhouse is one the best available for playhouses rated by our experts.
Below is a brief overview of how some of the key points of this playhouse fairs across the market.
Cladding
The shiplap tongue & groove cladding(walls) used here is one of the best forms of construction for walls and is the only type [4] we’ve identified on same-size playhouses, that you’ll also see getting used on 59% (103 of 175) of all playhouses analysed [5], as well as being used on 47% (8 of 17) of the top 10% of playhouses [6]. In fact this is the only 14′ x 10′ playhouse you’ll find that uses a shiplap tongue & groove wall [7].
The walls are 12mm thick and we rate this an about average thickness out of the 2 found on same-size playhouses [8]. It is used on 49% of all playhouses [9] and is also used across 59% of the top 10% of playhouses [10] we analysed. Further analysis shows us that out of all 14′ x 10′ playhouses this is the only one to use 12mm thick walls [11].
Read full analysis for cladding.
Roofing
Mineral felt is used as the roof covering. Our experts say it’s one of the best roof covering materials, and is also the only kind identified on same-size playhouses [12]. It comes fitted on 64% of playhouses and used on 88% of the top 10% of 14′ x 10′ playhouses. According to the data we have on all playhouses, out of the the 14′ x 10’s this is the only one to use a mineral felt roof covering.
Read full analysis for roofing.
Window
Styrene windows come installed on this playhouse. As a glazing option, we rate it one of the best glazing types and is also the only type found on 14′ x 10′ playhouses [13]. This particular type of glazing is used on 77% of all windowed playhouses and 100% of the top 10% of playhouses with windows we analysed. Out of all windowed 14′ x 10′ playhouses this is the only playhouse to make use of styrene windows.
Read full analysis for window.
Height
The Height of this playhouse is 1963.0mm (6′) which sits right on the average height of all 14′ x 10′ playhouses.
Read full analysis for height.
You Might Also Consider
We found 1 14′ x 10′ playhouses with comparable specifications. The Mercia 14 x 10ft Pent Style Timber Playhouse with Tower & Activity Set has an Expert Score that is 1% equal than average and is £1 equal expensive than average. If you are looking for the best value or highest expert scoring playhouses out of the 1 with comparable specifications the following might be of interest.
The Mercia 14 x 10ft Pent Style Timber Playhouse with Tower & Activity Set is the cheapest Playhouse available.
The Mercia 14 x 10ft Pent Style Timber Playhouse with Tower & Activity Set is the best scoring playhouse available out of all 1 14′ x 10′ playhouses we analysed.
High Wind Area – If you live in a particularly exposed or high wind area then having a playhouse with a thicker cladding and higher than average frame thickness can be preferable. We found at least 1 playhouses that have a combination of features that can make them more suited to higher wind areas.
Mercia 14 x 10ft Pent Style Timber Playhouse with Tower & Activity Set
More Child Friendly – If you have children and you are looking for something that has that little extra in terms of durability then tougher glazing options might be a better option. Here we have at least 1 other options that will fill those needs.
Mercia 14 x 10ft Pent Style Timber Playhouse with Tower & Activity Set
Product Details
Comparisons of Similar Sheds
Sources
Merchants Checked
12 different sources were used to research information on this product, and 1 contained information that we were able to use to compile the data used on this page.
The following merchants were checked on the 06 August, 2022 to see if they stocked this product.
Wickes – 19576 products checked, found 1 match.
Waltons – 231 products checked, found no matches.
B&Q – 78905 products checked, found no matches.
ManoMano UK – 922302 products checked, found no matches.
Wilko.com – 21232 products checked, found no matches.
Homebase – 35509 products checked, found no matches.
Buy Sheds Direct – 1635 products checked, found no matches.
sheds.co.uk – 1999 products checked, found no matches.
BillyOh – 1244 products checked, found no matches.
Garden Buildings Direct – 1284 products checked, found no matches.
Shedstore – 1373 products checked, found no matches.
Tiger Sheds – 635 products checked, found no matches.
1. Dip Treated: Dip treating is a temporary protective base coat treatment that is mainly designed to help protect the building during transit and for around one month after it is assembled. This water-based treatment is the least time-consuming and cheapest type of wood treatment. It involves dipping the wood in a protective water-based preservative and then leaving it to dry. The action of dipping is where ‘dip treatment’ comes from.
A dip-treated garden building is not considered fully treated with wood preservatives; it’s vital to re-treat your dip-treated building, preferably with a solvent-based (or oil-based) wood treatment. Then re-treat it on an annual basis using a solvent-based (or oil-based) wood treatment.
If you don’t want to treat something on an annual basis then a pressure treated wooden building might be a better option, this is where the wood undergoes a process called tanalisation (pressure treatment) during production. This is where the timber is submerged in specialist wood preservatives (such as Tanalith E, this is actually the origin of the word ‘tanalisation’), the wood then goes into a high pressure vacuum tank to draw out excess moisture and air and force in the preservatives. This deep penetration of the exterior wood protects it from the elements and all forms of insect attack. Wood treated this way can last many years without being re-treated. The Wood Protection Association has a good article/video on this. ↩
2. Styrene (Polystyrene (High Impact) HIPS): Styrene as it is commonly known or High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) is a very versatile form of plastic. It has a very wide range of uses but for garden buildings styrene is typically used as a budget option for windows.
Styrene is a shatter-resistant material, which is why it is ideal for situations where safety needs to be considered, such as playhouses. This benefit can be offset by a few other drawbacks, unfortunately styrene has a tendency to yellow over time (the technical term is Photoyellowing and it is caused by prolonged exposure to UV Light), the degradation of its polymers over time also causes it to become more brittle.
Another drawback of styrene is its thermal coefficient of expansion (it is 80 x 10-6), this is higher than most other glazing options. This means that as the material heats up and cools it can contract and expand more than other glazing options. This cycle can lead to a loose fit of windows over time.
According to data from the British Plastics Fedaration the physical properties of Styrene (Polystyrene (High Impact) are that it is not very good when exposed to high heat with a maximum continuous use temperature of between 60 to 80 °C. This is coupled with the fairly low range the Notched Impact Strength data shows of 10.0 – 20.0 Kj/m². ↩
3. PEFC Certified Timber: The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) is a forestry management certification that is comparable to the FSC certification. The PCFC is a global alliance of national forest certification systems that has the goal of promoting sustainable forest management through independent third-party certification. ↩
4. Cladding types identified: shiplap tongue & groove ↩
5. Global cladding data sourced from: All shiplap tongue & groove playhouses ↩
6. Top cladding data sourced from: Top 17 shiplap tongue & groove playhouses ↩
7. 14′ x 10′ cladding data sourced from: 1 14′ x 10′ shiplap tongue & groove playhouses ↩
9. Global cladding thickness data sourced from: All 12mm playhouses ↩
10. Top cladding thickness data sourced from: Top 17 12mm playhouses ↩
11. 14′ x 10′ cladding thickness data sourced from: 1 14′ x 10′ 12mm playhouses ↩
12. Roof covering types identified: mineral felt ↩
13. Glazing material types identified: styrene ↩